înverșuna

Forms

înverșuna (third-person singular present înverșunează, past participle înverșunat), 1st conjugation^[1] The old form is învierșuna: Iordache Golescu wrote „acela ca un leu mai rău să învierșunează” “he grows fiercer, like a lion”.^[2] The DA also records învirșuna, as in Pann's „Patima-i se învirșunase” “his passion had flared up”, and a dialect form îngherșuna.^[2][3]

Etymology

Its origin is unknown to Tiktin and uncertain to the DA.^[4][2][1] Tiktin compares the old vierșun “wager”, and Ciorănescu lists the verb among the derivatives of that noun, which he connects, with doubt, with Latin versiō (“a turning, change”).^[4][5] Ciorănescu reviews the other proposals: Pascu's Vulgar Latin *inversiōnō;^[5] Cihac's Hungarian gerjszteni (“to excite”), which he finds phonetically impossible; and Pușcariu's and the DAR's verseny (“contest, fight”), which fits the sounds even less.^[5] DEX and MDA2 nonetheless compare the Hungarian noun, and Wikționar gives it as the source.^[6][3][7] The Hungarian noun, recorded from 1643, is a back-formation from verseng (“to compete”).^[8][1]

The DA lists the sense of a sow in heat first.^[2] If that is the original sense, the verb could be related to vier “boar”, from verrēs, through a noun ⟨*vierșun⟩, with a suffix like that of căpșun; but the DA thinks it more likely that the link with the boar came from folk etymology.^[2] It refers to Pușcariu's notes in volume II of Dacoromania.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1654, in the Romanian translation of the Teachings of Neagoe Basarab, where the form is învierșuna.^[4] The sense is “to become fierce, embittered”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The DA puts the sense of a sow in heat first.^[2] A sarcastic use for a woman comes from it.^[2] The usual sense is of people and animals that flare up in fury and grow relentless against someone: the Economia, a farming manual for the Romanian schools of Hungary, says that other hives then do not turn on them.^[2][3] Said of passions, the reflexive means to flare up; the transitive, rarer, means to stir someone up against another.^[2][3] Tiktin gives “to put into wild passion, inflame, embitter”, as in Golescu's songs of outlaws that make the mind fierce.^[4]

In the modern language the reflexive dominates, “to become relentless, to dig in one's heels”, and by extension “to become more determined”.^[6][9] The participle înverșunat “fierce, bitter, relentless” is also used as an adjective.^[2]

Timeline

• 1654 – învierșuna in the Romanian translation of the Teachings of Neagoe Basarab, the first record.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive and transitive) To become or make relentless, unyielding; to harden in anger or resolve.^[6][3][1]
2. (reflexive) Of feelings: to flare up.^[3][2]
3. (transitive) To set someone against another; to excite.^[3][2]
4. (regional, reflexive) Of a sow: to be in heat.^[3][2]

Word family

• înverșunat
• înverșunare

Related words

• vierșun

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. înverșuna
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1268
4. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. înverșuna
5. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. vierșun
6. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 560
7. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
8. ^ Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 687